[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 244 (Monday, December 21, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 79322-79324]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-31970]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Docket No. IC16-4-000]
Commission Information Collection Activities (Ferc-500, Ferc-
542); Consolidated Comment Request; Extension
AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Notice of information collections and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: In compliance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction
Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A), the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission (Commission or FERC) is soliciting public comment on the
requirements and burden \1\ of the information collections described
below.
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\1\ The Commission defines burden as the total time, effort, or
financial resources expended by persons to generate, maintain,
retain, or disclose or provide information to or for a Federal
agency. For further explanation of what is included in the
information collection burden, reference 5 Code of Federal
Regulations 1320.3.
DATES: Comments on the collections of information are due February 19,
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2016.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments (identified by Docket No. IC16-4-
000) by either of the following methods:
eFiling at Commission's Web site: http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/efiling.asp
Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier: Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, Secretary of the Commission, 888 First Street NE.,
Washington, DC 20426.
Please reference the specific collection number and/or title in your
comments.
Instructions: All submissions must be formatted and filed in
accordance with submission guidelines at: http://www.ferc.gov/help/submission-guide.asp. For user assistance contact FERC Online Support
by email at [email protected], or by phone at: (866) 208-3676
(toll-free), or (202) 502-8659 for TTY.
Docket: Users interested in receiving automatic notification of
activity in this docket or in viewing/downloading comments and
issuances in this docket may do so at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/docs-filing.asp.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ellen Brown may be reached by email at
[email protected], telephone at (202) 502-8663, and fax at (202)
273-0873.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Type of Request: Three-year extension of the information collection
requirements for all collections described below with no changes to the
current reporting requirements. Please note that each collection is
distinct from the next.
Comments: Comments are invited on: (1) Whether the collections of
information are necessary for the proper performance of the functions
of the Commission, including whether the information will have
practical utility; (2) the accuracy of the agency's estimates of the
burden and cost of the collections of information, including the
validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (3) ways to enhance
the quality, utility and clarity of the information collections; and
(4) ways to minimize the burden of the collections of information on
those who are to respond, including the use of automated collection
techniques or other forms of information technology.
FERC-500, [Application for License/Relicense and Exemption for Water
Projects With More Than 5 Megawatt \2\ Capacity]
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\2\ Megawatt = MW.
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OMB Control No.: 1902-0058.
Abstract: Pursuant to the Federal Power Act, the Commission is
authorized to issue licenses and exemptions to citizens of the United
States, or to any corporation organized under the laws of United States
or any State thereof, or to any State or municipality for the purpose
of constructing, operating, and maintaining dams, water conduits,
reservoirs, power houses, transmission lines, or other project works
necessary or convenient for the development and improvement of
navigation and for the development, transmission, and utilization of
power across, along, from, or in any of the streams or other bodies of
water over which Congress has jurisdiction under its authority to
regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the several States, or
upon any part of the public lands and reservations of the United
States.
FERC-500 is an application (for water projects with more than 5
megawatt capacity) for a hydropower license or exemption. FERC-500
includes certain reporting requirements in 18 CFR 4, 5, 8, 16, 141,
154.15, and 292. Depending on the type of application, it may include
project description, schedule, resource allocation, project operation,
construction schedule, cost, and financing; and an environmental
report.
After an application is filed, the Federal agencies with
responsibilities under the Federal Power Act (FPA) and other
statutes,\3\ the States, Indian tribes, and other participants have
opportunities to request additional studies and provide comments and
recommendations.
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\3\ Statutes include the Electric Consumers Protection Act
(ECPA), the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Endangered
Species Act, the Federal Water Pollution Control Amendments of 1972
(the Clean Water Act), and the Coastal Zone Management Act.
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Submittal of the FERC-500 application is necessary to fulfill the
requirements of the FPA in order for the Commission to make the
required finding that the proposal is economically, technically, and
environmentally sound, and is best adapted to a comprehensive plan for
improving/developing a waterway or waterways.
Type of Respondent: Applicants for major hydropower licenses or
exemptions greater than 5 MW
Estimate of Annual Burden: Applicants for licenses are required to
[[Page 79323]]
include an estimate of their cost to prepare the license application,
which would include nearly all of the reporting requirements in FERC-
500.\4\ Because the requirements for an exemption application are
largely the same as that of a license application, the license
application costs are a good estimate of the exemption application
costs and of the overall burden of preparing license and exemption
applications for projects greater than 5 MW. To estimate the total
annual burden, we averaged the reported license application costs for
proposed projects greater than 5 MW filed in fiscal years (FY) 2012
through 2015. The results are presented in the table below:
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\4\ Exceptions would be 18 CFR 2.19, 4.201, 4.202, 4.303, 4.35,
8.1, 8.2, 16.19, 141.15, and 292.208, none of which directly relate
to preparation of a license or exemption application for a project
greater than 5 MW.
FERC-500 (Application for License/Relicense and Exemption for Water Projects with More than 5 MW Capacity)
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Fiscal Year 2012 2013 2014 2015
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Number of Applications (Responses).............. 9 7 15 2
Average Cost per Response....................... $2,059,828 $1,234,987 $3,776,864 $500,000
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Total Burden Cost........................... $18,538,451 $8,644,909 $56,652,960 $1,000,000
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The average burden cost per application over the period FY 2012
through FY 2015 was approximately $2,570,797.\5\ We estimate a cost
(salary plus benefits) of $72/hour.\6\ Using this hourly cost estimate,
the average burden for each application filed from FY 2012 to FY 2015
is 35,706 hours.
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\5\ $84,836,320 (Total burden cost from 2012-2015) / 33 (total
number of applications received from 2012-2015) = $2,570,797.
\6\ FERC staff estimates that industry is similarly situated in
terms of the hourly cost for salary plus benefits. Therefore, we are
using the FERC FY 2015 hourly cost (salary plus benefits) of $72/
hour.
FERC-500
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Total annual
Annual number of Total number of Average burden burden hours and Cost per
Number of respondents responses per responses hours and cost total annual respondent ($)
respondent per response cost
(1)...................................................... (2) (1)*(2)=(3) (4) (3)*(4)=(5) (5)/(1)
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9........................................................ 1 9 35,705.52 321,349.68 $2,570,797.42
$2,570,797.42 $23,137,176.82
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FERC-542, [Gas Pipeline Rates: Rate Tracking]
OMB Control No.: 1902-0070
Abstract: Commission regulations at 18 CFR 154.402 establish
requirements for natural gas pipelines that choose to recover
Commission-assessed annual charges through an annual charge adjustment
(ACA) clause. All natural gas pipelines subject to FERC jurisdiction
must have a clause in their tariff that incorporates the Commission-
authorized annual charge unit rate by reference to that rate, as
published on the Commission's Web site located at http://www.ferc.gov.
This reporting requirements results from the Commission's being
required to ``assess and collect fees and annual charges in any fiscal
year in amounts equal to all of the costs incurred by the Commission in
that fiscal year.'' \7\ To accomplish this, the Commission created the
annual charges program, which is designed to recover the costs of
administering the natural gas, oil, and electric programs by
calculating the costs of each program, net of filing fees, and properly
allocating them among the three programs.\8\
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\7\ See Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, Pub. L. 99-509, Title
III, Subtitle E, Sec. 3401, 1986 U.S. Code Cong. & Ad. News (100
Stat.) 1874, 1890-91 (codified at 42 U.S.C. 7178 (2012)).
\8\ Annual Charges Under the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act
of 1986, Order No. 472, FERC Stats & Regs. ] 30,746, clarified by,
Order No. 472-A, FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 30,750, order on reh'g, Order
No. 472-B, FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 30,767 (1987), order on reh'g,
Order No. 472-C, 42 FERC ] 61,013 (1988).
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This reporting requirement applies only to the recovery of annual
charges assessed to entities in the natural gas program.
The provisions governing the assessment of annual charges are
codified in Part 382 of the Commission's regulations.\9\ In brief,
after the Commission calculates the costs of administering the natural
gas regulatory program,\10\ it assesses those costs to natural gas
pipeline companies (Pipelines).\11\ Each Pipeline is assessed a
proportional share of the Commission's costs of administering the
natural gas program. That proportional share is based on the following:
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\9\ 18 CFR 382 (2015).
\10\ Id. at 382.102(d) (defining the ``natural gas regulatory
program'' as the Commission's regulation of the natural gas industry
under the Natural Gas Act; Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978; Alaska
Natural Gas Transportation Act; Public Utility Regulatory Policies
Act; Department of Energy Organization Act; Outer Continental Shelf
Lands Act; Energy Security Act; Regulatory Flexibility Act; Crude
Oil Windfall Profit Tax Act; National Environmental Policy Act;
National Historic Preservation Act).
\11\ For the purposes of this proceeding, we use the term
natural gas pipeline company (Pipeline) as it is defined in 18 CFR
382.101(a) (2012): ``any person: (1) Engaged in natural gas sales
for resale or natural gas transportation subject to the jurisdiction
of the Commission under the Natural Gas Act whose sales for resale
and transportation exceed 200,000 Mcf at 14.73 psi (60[ordm]F) in
any of the three calendar years immediately preceding the fiscal
year for which the Commission is assessing annual charges; and (2)
Not engaged solely in ``first sales'' of natural gas as that term is
defined in section 2(21) of the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978; and
(3) To whom the Commission has not issued a Natural Gas Act Section
7(f) declaration; and (4) Not holding a limited jurisdiction
certificate.''
. . ..the proportion of the total gas subject to Commission
regulation which was sold and transported by each company in the
immediately preceding calendar year to the sum of the gas subject to
the Commission regulation which was sold and transported in the
immediately preceding calendar year by all natural gas pipeline
companies being assessed annual charges.\12\
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\12\ 18 CFR 382.202 (2015).
Type of Respondent: Natural Gas Pipelines.
[[Page 79324]]
Estimate of Annual Burden: The Commission estimates the annual
public reporting burden for the information collection as:
FERC-542 (Gas Pipeline Rates: Rate Tracking)
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Total annual
Annual number of Total number of Average burden burden hours and Cost per
Number of respondents responses per responses hours and cost total annual respondent ($)
respondent per response cost
(1) (2) (1)*(2)=(3) (4) (3)*(4)=(5) (5)/(1)
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5........................................................ 1 5 2 10 $144
$144 $720
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Dated: December 14, 2015
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2015-31970 Filed 12-18-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P